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| | | Oliver Bierhoff | Oli Bierhoff |  |
Oliver Bierhoff will forever be regarded as a legend of German football after scored the first ever golden goal to decide a major international tournament against Czech Republic to win Euro 1996. Known for his superb heading and powerful shooting Bierhoff played for nine clubs in four countries during his career, scoring close to 200 goals.
Born in Karlsruhe, West Germany, in 1968 Bierhoff initially struggled to make an impact in the Bundesliga and after inconsistent spells at Hamburg and Borussia Monchengladbach he made the switch to Austria Salzburg in 1990. This was the move that kick started his career and after finishing as the league's top scorer he was bought by Italian side Ascoli Calcio.
It was Italy where he flourished and after a successful spell at Ascoli he moved to Udinese in 1995 where he scored an astonishing 57 goals in 86 appearances. Bierhoff formed a superb partnership with Brazilian Marcio Amoroso and helped the Bianconeri to third place in Serie A, the club's highest ever finish in the league. It was during his time at Udinese that he got his first call up to the national side, making his debut against Portugal. His first goals for Germany came in a 2-0 win against Denmark and he eventually went on to score 37 times in 70 appearances.
These goals eventually caught the attention of the major clubs and, after an impressive World Cup, Bierhoff followed former Udinese boss Zaccheroni to footballing giants AC Milan who signed him on a three-year deal. While at the San Siro, Bierhoff won Serie A, his only major honour at club level, in 1998. Bierhoff scored close to a goal every two games in his time at Milan and captained the German national side during his spell with the Rossoneri.
Zaccheroni left the San Siro after a disappointing season in 2001 and Bierhoff also headed for the door, signing for French club AS Monaco. However, Bierhoff failed to make an impact in the principality and secured a move back to Italy with Chievo Verona. He led the line manfully all season, helping the team to survive in Serie A and, in typical style, scored a hat-trick against Juventus in his final game.
Bierhoff now works for the German FA in a public relations role as well as being an ambassador for the country during trips aboard. Despite never truly succeeding his homeland, Bierhoff will forever seen as one of the greatest foreign players in Italian football and thanks to his winning goal in Euro 96 he will always hold a place in the hears of German football fans.
This season, Milan have struggled to make an impact on Serie A and the football betting suggests that city rivals Inter will win the title this year.
The betting odds also indicate that Milan face a tough challenge in the knockout stages of the Champions League with the Italian giants set to meet Manchester United in the next round.
Profile written by a visitor on February 8th 2010. Some of the content might be outdated and it might lack events that followed the date it was written on. Contact us if you'd like to update this profile.
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